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Fresh Strawberry Basil Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Sunflower Seeds & Lemon Vinaigrette

A tasty strawberry basil quinoa salad topped with goat cheese and sunflower seeds, and served with my absolute favorite lemon dressing. It’s slightly sweet and oh so fresh! You’ll love this as a healthy lunch, especially in the summer.

Course Gluten Free, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish, Vegetarian
Keyword strawberry basil quinoa salad
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 228 kcal
Author Monique of AmbitiousKitchen.com

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup organic quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 1/4 cups quartered strawberries
  • 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (about 5-6 leaves)
  • 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds (I buy mine from Trader Joe's)
  • 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
  • For lemon dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
  • 1 large basil leaf, chopped
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • fresh ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
  2. To make dressing: place olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sugar/honey, basil, and salt in blender or food processor. Blend/process for 10-15 seconds; fold into quinoa.
  3. Gently fold in strawberries and basil and any other add-ins you'd like such as chickpeas or chicken. Add salt or extra basil to taste. Place salad in refrigerator for few hours to let flavors marinate together. Once ready to serve, garnish salad with goat cheese, sunflower seeds and extra basil. I serve mine over a bed of spinach. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Dressing adapted from my lemon dressing.

The salad is better the longer you marinate it in the fridge, just wait to add the goat cheese and sunflower seeds.

Nutrition Facts
Fresh Strawberry Basil Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Sunflower Seeds & Lemon Vinaigrette
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 228 Calories from Fat 123
% Daily Value*
Fat 13.7g21%
Carbohydrates 17.3g6%
Fiber 2.1g9%
Sugar 3.3g4%
Protein 9.4g19%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.